Standard Life wins £100m court case against indemnity insurers

Standard Life has won a court claim worth £100m involving a controversial fund.

The commercial court in London has ruled against a group of insurers who provided professional indemnity insurance to Standard Life's Pension Sterling Fund. In February 2009, Standard Life was forced to pay £100m into the fund following losses made in the wake of the credit crunch, and it claimed the insurers should have covered the cost of this top-up. The court agreed, although the insurers were granted leave to appeal and Standard Life will not recognise the £100m in its accounts pending the outcome of any new hearing. The news has lifted Standard Life's shares by 2.3p to 220.1p, and comes as some of its policyholders are warned of lower payouts and cuts in bonuses.

The Pension Sterling Fund proved controversial after Standard Life was accused of misleading customers about the safety of customers' money. Its marketing material suggested it was a low risk investment when in fact some of it was invested in toxic mortgage debt which plummeted in value.

Standard Life was subsequently fined £2.45m by the Financial Services Authority.